Community Update

​The Langston Civic Association’s protest of the Food 7 store at 1830 Benning Rd. NE has been successful. The ABC board voted unanimously to accept the association’s Settlement Agreement on February 28, 2018. Despite years of community concern about violent crime at the store, this is the first protest in 17 years.

After many hours of negotiations and multiple rounds of input from the Langston community, the ABC board accepted ALL of our neighborhood’s recommendations requiring the store to end single sales of beer and wine, install video surveillance equipment linked directly to MPD, and remove graffiti as well as other important safety and aesthetic improvements.

These changes will not be immediate. Some of the changes like the removal of graffiti and installation of special camera equipment must happen within 30 days, but other larger and more expensive changes will take place over varying time frames. It is now up to us as a community to make sure that the store lives up to every clause of the agreement by familiarizing ourselves with the terms of the settlement and reporting any violations or suspected violations immediately to ABRA.

The Langston Civic Association formally offered to collaborate with ANC5D to protest the license of the Food 7 Store in November 2017. ANC5D agreed to file a protest even after some objections from. Comm. Kathy Henderson claiming that the store "has done everything the community has asked them to do," but decided to protest separately from the civic association.

After the February 28, 2018 hearing; the ANC5D protest is now in jeopardy of dismissal by the ABC Board. ANC5D which is represented in this matter by Henderson failed to submit required paperwork for Wednesday’s hearing. The board sternly reiterated their concerns about similar failures throughout the protest process by Henderson, but voted to allow a one-week extension for the completion of required paperwork. This protest is the sixth protest launched by Henderson that has been dismissed or delayed due to a failure to appear at a hearing or failure to submit required documents since 2009.

If a Settlement Agreement from ANC5D is approved, both the Langston Civic Association agreement as well as the ANC 5D agreement will be fully enforceable. If an agreement is submitted by ANC 5D by the deadline, it will also be posted to our blog once available and you can use the same methods to report violations as outlined above.

Thanks so much to everyone who took time out of their busy schedule to attend the Langston Civic Association's community roundtable with Mayor Bowser. These meetings are only effective when neighbors show up and address the issues that are important to them and make it clear that we care.

Please know that this will not be the last of these conversations with the mayor or councilmember and that every single issue addressed will receive follow up from the mayor's staff as well as our civic association president, Sydelle Moore. If you have additional issues, questions or comments, please email us.

There is already a map of sidewalk and street repairs in the hands of our Mayor's Office of Community Relations as well as DDOT to address the specific concerns raised last night. MPD will also be attending the next Langston Civic Association meeting to continue to work on our concerns about recent shootings in the area. The Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement has also dispatched members of their response team to try and help with getting appropriate violence intervention staff to track down and mediate between the parties involved in recent shootings.

The civic association meetings are open to all and we look forward to continuing to work together to enhance civic pride, community engagement and safety. OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018 AT 6 PM at 2109 Maryland Ave NE (rear entrance).

District agencies are currently under review by City Council. Residents can testify at these hearings and offer feedback about the quality of service received from any agency. You must register before a hearing to testify and learn more about several key dates in the budget schedule at the City Council website.

Please find a community events calendar updated with a few important upcoming hearings on the events page.

We are writing with important news about the DC Tuition Assistance Grant program (DCTAG), a program that has helped 26,000 students attend and get through college. Today, President Trump released a budget proposal for 2019 that completely eliminates DCTAG. This is grave news for DC. It means that a college education for thousands of DC students is at risk. Congress can and should reject this proposal and fully fund DCTAG for 2019 and beyond. Please help us save DCTAG by signing the #SaveDCTAG petition at savedctag.dc.gov.

For President Trump and the members of Congress who support his budget, our students are simply a line item in a budget. But we know that real lives and livelihoods are at stake. Lives like Ms. Davidson who wrote in to tell us (on graduation day) that because of DCTAG, her daughter graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. And, current UNC-Greensboro student Amaya, who shared that without DCTAG she would not have been able to attend the university where she is double-majoring in Music and Latin American Studies. Amaya credits her ability to earn straight A's in college to the financial peace of mind DCTAG has given her and to her family.

Though the President is proposing to defund DCTAG, we know that Congress makes final decisions about funding. Therefore, as a city, we are coming together to fight for the futures of all of our students.If you are a student with a current year award, fear not, as you will receive your payments as usual this year. If you are a senior who has not yet applied for DCTAG, please apply for an award for 2018 - 2019, we plan to fight this and win.

There is time to save the program, but it will take all of us to do it. We ask that you stand in solidarity and action with us as we work to protect the college education and livelihoods of our students. If you, too, believe that our students deserve a fair shot at creating strong futures, take action right now.

We urge Congress to reject President Trump’s proposal to eliminate DCTAG. Time after time, Washingtonians have come together to spark change. This is yet another moment to show that we are DC Strong and that our DC values are of great importance to us. Over the course of nearly twenty years, DCTAG has helped more than 26,000 Washingtonians get to and through college. Let’s work together to ensure that we can do the same for 26,000 more!

We are asking you to assist us with two things:

1. DC TAG Pledge: Sign the #SaveDCTAG petition at savedctag.dc.gov2. COMMUNICATE: Spread the word on your social media networks using the #SaveDCTAG hashtag